Hormones for Halloween
by Zetsubel
Summary: Hinata's favorite time of the year: Halloween, where you can be anyone you want for a whole day without inhibitions. Her favorite time of the year just happened to land on her least favorite time of the month. LeeHina. AU.


It was the worst possible week for Hinata's favorite time of the year. It was that one week every three weeks that she usually spent holed up in her room or with her head bowed lower than usual in class. Because Hinata was very aware of how that special time of the month affected her and didn't want to subject anyone she cared about to her very… excitable hormones.

Why Tenten and Sakura thought it would be alright to drag her to a Halloween party, she would never understand. They both knew about it. Hinata on her period was as bad as, if not worse than, an alcoholic Rock Lee.

"For the sake of being in character! No one will suspect your friend is visiting!" Tenten had gleefully declared as she and Sakura tag teamed Hinata to get her into her costume.

Hinata didn't think that was justification enough to torment her like this. Going costume shopping with Tenten, Ino, and Sakura. What in the world had she been thinking? Hinata would have been happy to wear Neji's black 'Budget Ninja Costume' shirt and watch her friends go all out with their flamboyant, sexy outfits. She should've known they would insist she go just as flamboyant and sexy, too.

If she had to be a sexy something, though, it didn't get much better than a sexy Mad Hatter. Even the sexy pumpkin outfit had been more revealing. A pretty emerald green color, the jacket was fashioned like a Victorian gentleman's, made of soft velvet with shiny gold cufflinks and buttons. There were only two buttons so that it shaped a deep V cut that went past her breasts, with a sheer white button-up underneath and a pink, large-ruffled ascot around her neck. The jacket was tight enough to hinder her breathing a little, and the cinched waist made her usually invisible curves pop. The black velvet skirt flared wide at her hips and barely reached mid-thigh, with a full white petticoat underneath and garters holding up sheer white stockings. Cute black platform booties ended the costume with severe heels that killed.

Sakura reached over and adjusted Hinata's green mini top hat again, an accessory to the costume that sat atop her head via a black headband. Hinata scrunched her nose and ducked Sakura's probing hands, ignoring the indignant huff the pinkette gave.

"Hinata! Don't make that face, you'll mess up your make-up!" Ino admonished, licking her thumb and reaching for the Hatter.

With a frustrated sound in her throat, Hinata ducked away from both of them and leaned forward against the dashboard of Tenten's little black Cavalier, away from grappling fingers.

"It'll look a little more 'mad' if she lets it smudge, won't it?" Tenten inquired innocently, glancing at her rearview.

The two girls in the back grudgingly agreed and left their Mad Hatter alone. Hinata gave Tenten a grateful sigh and smile. The brunette flashed her dazzling white teeth in a grin with a thumbs up that reminded Hinata of Rock Lee, her cousin's best friend and an upperclassman. Thoughts of Lee made her cheeks turn the slightest shade of pink. He reminded her very much of Naruto, but with manners and common sense. Perhaps that was why it was so easy to transfer her girlhood crush away from the blonde quarterback and onto the dark-haired basketball player. Several times she had to remind herself that she, a saxophonist in jazz band, had little to no chance with any jock. Let alone either of the school's star players.

When they reached the community center where the high school Halloween dance was being held, Hinata started to lose just a little bit of her nerve. By the time Tenten parked, she was trying to assure her friends that she had no problem waiting out their good time in the car.

"Don't be silly!" Ino waved off her protests and looped her arm with Hinata's, dragging the shorter girl from the passenger's seat. "There's no good reason you shouldn't come inside."

"Yeah," Sakura chimed in on Hinata's other side, mimicking Ino's gesture with their arms. "It's dark, it's your favorite time of year, you've got the PERFECT costume, and we've got plenty of tampons for emergencies."

"S-sakura," Hinata groaned weakly, dragging her heels.

Tenten sighed loudly behind them and gave the shortest member a shove from behind. "Hinata, we already paid for the tickets. You're not gonna make us throw away money like that, are you?"

It worked. Hinata glared half-heartedly at the ground and grew quiet, pouting at Tenten's underhanded convincing. "F-fine…"

She tried tugging the skirt lower over her legs as they stood in line amongst their schoolmates, flushed with the way Suigetsu behind them gave a little wolf growl at their group. Sakura was dressed as a sexy cop with a black pleather skirt shorter than Hinata's, a pair of shiny handcuffs twirling around her fingers. Ino was dressed as her prisoner in a bright orange jumper that cutoff at mid-thigh and was completely unzipped to show off the lacy black bustier underneath. Ugly orange clogs topped off her costume. The blonde had simply smiled when Hinata asked how she knew prisoners wore those clogs.

Tenten had decided to dress as Hinata's white rabbit, since Ino and Sakura were matching. Her poofy dress reached just above her knees, with a sleeveless corset top that brought attention to the breasts no one knew she had. Not that her bust was small by any means; it was just lost underneath her football jerseys and letterman jacket on any regular day. Fuzzy white rabbit ears hung over her face and a big white cottontail poufed at her butt.

Hinata thought it was more to show off for Neji and Sai than for her own sake, but she wasn't complaining either way. Sai was gay, but only Hinata and Tenten were privy to that information. Sai agreed to help urge Neji into a jealous rage so that he would stop tiptoeing around Tenten like she was made for glass kisses. Hinata agreed that her stubborn cousin needed a good kick in the rear before he did something to really break her best friend's heart.

"Oh, wow!"

Hinata looked up as they entered the gymnasium of the community center and gaped openly. 'Oh, wow' didn't even begin to cover it. The only light in the spacious room came from blacklights hung in every corner and over every booth. Neon white strands of torn cloth hung from the ceiling, glowing white spiders decorated the temporary black carpets, and each tablecloth on the booths were a neon purple or pink that nearly blinded. A DJ setup on the stage was similarly decorated, with a stand made of clear orange plastic that glowed like those tools on CSI. Fog machines were hidden underneath the booths that held a bevy of less-than-appetizing snacks - clear cups of 'blood', bleeding cupcakes, black tortilla chips with toxic green nacho cheese, milky blue cups of… something, and all sorts of foods Hinata highly doubted she would try by the end of the night.

One of the booths did interest her quite a bit. Sai was painting faces with blacklight paints, neons in orange and yellow and green and white. Deidara, a student teacher, was sitting beside him and giving directions - basically bossing the boy around. Sai looked to be enjoying the pretty older man's company a little more than he should.

"Tenten!" In a space all their own, away from the throngs of vampires and leprechauns and Freddy Kreugers, Neji and Lee had managed to save one of the tables that centered the room for the girls.

Ino and Sakura maneuvered so that Hinata was sitting beside Lee, exchanging sly looks over the top of her dark head. Hinata, clueless, focused on the Halloween confetti decorating the tabletop rather than her new neighbor. He wasn't going to return the favor, apparently.

"Hinata! Wow, I cannot remember seeing you in a skirt before this night!" Lee greeted excitedly, throwing back the hood of his grim reaper costume to flash her his wide, happy grin. Hinata's smile widened despite her best efforts to remain unaffected by her hormones. The face paint threw her off a bit, helping her calm her raging emotions.

"I-it was Tenten's idea… D-d you have S-sai do your face that way…?" she asked quietly, barely able to hear herself over the booming techno music blasting from the high wall speakers.

"Pardon?" Lee leaned closer with a hand cupped around his ear, arm brushing Hinata's shoulder. She about had a heart attack. "I am sorry, Hinata, it is so hard to hear over this noise."

Hinata's face flamed and her silver gaze darted to her lap, eyes wide as she stuttered out, "Y-your f-face p-paint! Did S-sai d-do it for you?"

Lee's face brightened, thick dark brows disappearing under his bowl cut. "Yes he did! I was most surprised when he offered! Although I do not think he meant to open a booth for everyone. He was simply being nice."

Hinata glanced at Ino and Sakura, sighing with some relief when she found they weren't paying attention. Then she met Tenten's gaze across the table and knew the older girl had seen the brief flash of jealousy across her face when she found out Sai was flirting with Lee before they even got there. She looked down guiltily as Naruto, Kiba, Shino, and a reluctant Sasuke joined the group, slowly followed by Chouji and Shikamaru. She wasn't close with any of these boys, although Shino was easier to get along with. Naruto wedged himself between Hinata and Sakura, shoving Hinata against Lee.

"Naruto," Lee rebuked, giving the blonde a light shove with his elbow over Hinata's ducked head. The push clipped Hinata's hat and pushed the headband over her eyes. Lee quickly apologized and gently fixed it for her, fingertips brushing her temples. She thought she was going to faint.

It was loud and tightly-packed and just fun, in Hinata's opinion, to sit in this group and laugh even if she did little to contribute to any of the talking. At some point Tenten pushed herself closer to Neji to allow room for Sai to join their bench, which pushed Neji into Lee and Lee into Hinata even further. Even Lee was becoming flustered by then.

"HEY, SASUKE, LET'S DANCE, YOU BASTARD!" Naruto announced out of the blue, slurred words proving Hinata's suspicions that he was late to the dance for a very alcoholic reason.

That set off a chain reaction. Before she knew it, only she, Shino and Shikamaru were left at the table, their friends joining in on the Monster Mash and the Thriller dance. Hinata swung around on the bench to face the dance floor and clapped along with the other non-dancers, smiling at Ino and Sakura trying to out-do each other for Sasuke's benefit. Some things never change.

"Hinata!" Bright eyed and panting, Lee trotted back to the table several dances later and held out a black-gloved hand. "Would you please join us? It is not so bad! No one could be worse than Naruto."

True, Naruto was dancing around a thoroughly pissed Sasuke like he was a sombrero. Hinata blushed and chuckled quietly at the sight, then, feeling bold, took Lee's hand in both of her own and gave a gentle tug. "You l-look like you n-need a break, Lee."

"Err…" His wide eyes stayed on their connected hands before he slowly sat beside her. He nodded furiously. "It would not hurt to have a drink first. Then will you join us?"

Hinata ran her teeth over her lower lip in debate, then sighed. "I-I don't think s-so…"

"Oh, please, Hinata! I would love to see how your skirt moves!" he protested instantly, stunning the both of them. Shino across the table gave a cough that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

"U-um, m-my… S-s-skirt?" Hinata asked numbly, fingers sliding from around his hand.

"Well… Yes! You have very nice legs!" Lee all but shouted, drawing attention from several people.

Hinata's face erupted into a record-breaking shade of red, even as she leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek. Shikamaru groaned at the PDA and buried his face in his arms. Shino silently excused himself. Lee's round eyes grew even wider as Hinata wiped his face paint from her lips with the back of her hand, hiding behind her hair and screaming internally at herself.

Several silent moments later, Lee took her hand firmly in his and with a gentle squeeze asked, "Will you come dance with me now?"

Hinata's happy high faded slowly. She looked down at their hands and shook her head. "I-I can't, L-Lee.. I-I'm.. It's, u-um…"

"She's on her period," Shikamaru monotoned, catching on immediately. It was painful to sit and watch the girl stutter so badly.

Hinata's fist connected with the tabletop, mouth gaping wide at Shikamaru.

"I do not understand," Lee said suddenly, thick brows furrowed. "Can you not simply make it stop for a few minutes?"

A deathly silence fell over the table.

When Sakura, Ino, and several others returned to the table it was to discover Lee holding his cheek in pained shock and Shikamaru cowering into the bench. Hinata was nowhere in sight.

"Lee?" Tenten frowned. "Where'd Hinata go?"

"I did not know!" he shouted quickly, fat tears falling down his smudged cheeks. "She is so sensitive about her womanly time! I did not know you cannot stop it!"

Tenten face-palmed while a pissed off Ino and furious Sakura rolled up their sleeves and clenched their fists. Lee had a big heart… But God, was he an idiot.

* * *

An entry for DateMe's LeeHina 'Mad as a Hatter' October contest. The ONLY fanfiction entry so far. And there's less than twenty-four hours left for the contest. It's sad, people! Only three entries TOTAL this month! Step up for your crack of choice!

Edit (10-31-10): Got a very good question: Why can't Hinata dance? Lotsa reasons.

1. Maybe she's cramping. (I know mine are crippling. Thanks a lot, nature.)

2. It could be just an excuse to not dance - Thriller doesn't sound like a Hinata dance. XD

3. Maybe she doesn't want a leak. Yes, boys, it DOES happen.

4. It made the story work for me. XD

Hope everyone had a good night with lots of candy and booze and fangs! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!


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